Media Release – 21 June, 2015 Anglican church forms company, abuse victims can sue

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Melbourne Anglicans have voted to form a company to make the church’s governance more transparent and encourage justice for victims of sexual abuse by giving them an entity from which to seek recompense.

The Melbourne diocese voted to incorporate at a special synod at St Paul’s Cathedral on Saturday. It follows the other Victorian dioceses, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Wangaratta, which have all done the same.

Melbourne Archbishop Philip Freier said the decision was also in response to the recommendation of the Victorian inquiry into clergy sex abuse, which recommended in its 2013 report that institutions take this action.

“The parliamentary inquiry commended the Anglican church for its response to sexual abuse, but we still felt we could do better,” Dr Freier said.

“This improves our transparency and our governance, and sets up an entity that is plainly legally responsible. It will help strengthen our public accountability.”

Incorporation also resolved WorkCover anomalies by ensuring clergy are considered employees.

Archbishop urges asylum-seeker transparency

  • Monday 15 June, 2015Archbishop urges asylum-seeker transparency

    Amid rumours that the Australian Government paid people smugglers to return to Indonesia, Archbishop Philip Freier has called for greater transparency about border patrols.

    Dr Freier was interviewed by Vatican Radio last week while in Rome. It was broadcast on Friday, June 12.

    He told Philippa Hitchen that much of the discussion about border operations is considered “almost a matter of military intelligence” with details being withheld from the public arena. He said the claim that the government paid smugglers was “a remarkable allegation” and said “we’d all be helped by greater transparency about how these policies are being carried out.”

    Dr Freier, conceding that his might be a minority voice on asylum seekers, reiterated that it was “morally reprehensible” for immigrant children to be kept in detention “for any longer than is necessary”. Children are still in detention in off-shore facilities.

    He said he was surprised that the Australian people “seem willing to accept these things being done in their name”.

    “We really need to address issues as to what motivates people to leave their own country. Most people in the world would like to be on a trajectory of prosperity and living in their own place, with their family, in the place their ancestors lived, but we seem to have every indication that this century is going to be one of the greatest human movements in history. … There are people on the move in every direction,” the archbishop said.

    “People need to be able to shape the society where they live rather than abandon themselves to people traffickers and all the uncertainties of living life on the fringe of another society.”

    Hear the radio interview here:http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/06/12/australian_archbishop_urges_transparency_on_immigration/1151125